The Bonding Ritual (Girls Wearing Black: Book Four)

by Spencer Baum

  “Are you sure it’s Kim who is keeping these people quiet?”

  Nicky showed Helena the list of names that still had question marks next to them. Mary, Andrea, Rosalyn, Marshall, Dan, and Art.

  “Other than Mary, we’re looking at people whose families have been beholden to the Renwicks for years,” Nicky said. “These people have no reason to talk to me. I’ve got nothing to offer them.”

  “It seems to me you’d have plenty to offer them. You only need one more number and you win Coronation.”

  “They don’t know that, and they wouldn’t believe me if I told them. I’m the odd man out at Thorndike right now.”

  “Your position is no different now than it was at the Homecoming Masquerade,” Helena said. “And somehow you came out of that night okay.”

  “Yes, I suppose I did.”

  “The only difference between now and then is that you went into the Homecoming Masquerade with an attitude that you would succeed no matter what. Now get your game face on and fill in those missing numbers!”

  So it was that Nicky arrived at school one Monday morning determined to get Art Tremblay to talk to her. She changed her route between second and third period so she could pass him in the hall, and smile at him.

  He smiled back.

  At lunch, she found him eating alone in the courtyard. She sat down next to him.

  The way he greeted her suggested it wouldn’t be a productive conversation.

  “I can’t give you my number, Nicky.”

  “What makes you think I was going to ask you to?”

  “For weeks now, people have been extra nice to me,” Art said. “They all want the same thing.”

  “Well, I don’t.”

  “Are you sure? It’s not like you and I normally eat lunch together.”

  “Maybe that could change.”

  Art laughed.

  “I’m not falling for your hogwash again,” he said. “Look, Nicky, I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I’m not stupid either. You were nice to me last semester because you wanted my money at the Date Auction.”

  “It’s not like you gave me any.”

  “Yeah, well, you can thank Kim for that. Her dad worked with mine to freeze all my assets until school gets out.”

  “What a shitty thing to do.”

  “She knew I was going to bid on you at the Date Auction.”

  “You did bid on me,” Nicky said. “If I recall, you offered one penny.”

  Nicky smiled as she said the words.

  “I’m sorry about that,” Art said.

  “Coronation makes all of us do things we regret,” said Nicky.

  “Well I’m sorry anyway.”

  Art was strangely relaxed and sure of himself—a far cry from the Art Tremblay Nicky knew last semester.

  “I quit drinking, you know,” he said.

  “Good for you.”

  “Yeah, over the holiday I did a little soul searching, and decided I was spending a little too much time with a beer bottle in my hand, if you know what I mean.”

  “I do know what you mean.”

  “It’s funny. I was so angry at Kim when she got my father to freeze my funds, but in a way, it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  “Really? How so?”

  “All that money made me a target in the Coronation contest. You and Kim and everybody—man, I felt like everyone wanted a piece of me last semester. It wasn’t good for me.”

  “I can imagine,” Nicky said.

  “You can imagine! I bet you can do more than imagine! You acted like you cared about me, but you never did.”

  “That’s not true, Art.”

  “I thought I was in love with you. Did you know that? Did you care? I was such a fool! You came to my house. You kissed me. You made me think you liked me. But it was all a game. You just wanted my money.”

  “I got played too, Art. It’s how things work in this town.”

  “Cry me a river, Nicky Bloom. This whole thing with Jill and Samantha, the way they used you, if you ask me you had it coming. All of you people are the same. Jill, Ryan, Kim, you.”

  “I’m sorry you feel that way. I’ll leave you alone now.”

  “Yes, you will. If you want to know my number, you can find out at the same time as everyone else. When Daciana calls me up to try the safe.”

  Nicky stood up.

  “See you around, Art,” she said.

  “Yeah, whatever.”

  A few days later, Nicky, Art, and all their classmates gathered again in the Albert and Melba Anderson Memorial chapel, looking on as Daciana called up eight more students to try the safe. Of this group of eight, only two of them (Dan and Marshall) were from the unknown number category on Jill’s spreadsheet. Six question marks became four.

  Four unknown numbers on a dial from one to ninety-nine. If they never discovered another number, and Ryan had to guess at the combination, he’d have a one in four chance of getting it right.

  After exiting the chapel, Nicky walked alone to her car, which was parked half a block down the road.

  She found one of Daciana’s servants waiting there for her.

  “My master has asked me to hold you,” the servant said.

  “Hold me?”

  “You are not to leave until Daciana has had the opportunity to speak with you.”

  Daciana arrived a few minutes later.

  “You wanted to see me?” Nicky said.

  “Let’s go for a drive, Nicky.”

  “Am I driving or are you?”

  Daciana smiled. “You can drive this time,” she said. “We aren’t going very far.”

  With Daciana guiding her at each intersection, Nicky drove to the northwest end of town. With each turn, Nicky grew a little more nervous about where they were going.

  “How well did you know Annika Fleming?” Daciana asked.

  Nicky spoke her mantra silently to herself. Breathe in me. It was crucial that she kept her cool. Not only was Daciana having her drive towards Jill’s neighborhood, but she was asking about Annika.

  Nicky feared things were about to get ugly.

  “I only met her a few months ago,” Nicky said.

  “But she was one of your supporters, was she not?”

  “By the end of last semester, most of the students at school thought they were supporting me. Now they aren’t.”

  “Ah yes, well, Coronation can be like that,” said Daciana. “The reason I’m asking about Annika is because, as you know, she betrayed the clan.”

  “I was sorry to hear about that. What a terrible choice.”

  “Sadly, kids your age can be vulnerable,” Daciana said. “Adolescent rebellion can transform into something much worse without proper guidance. Ms. Fleming fell in with the wrong crowd. We know that she was close to another traitor, one who left the school before you arrived. Turn right up here.”

  Nicky turned to drive up the hill. She did it without hesitation, even though this was the last place she wanted to go. At the end of this hill, the road forked at the woods. One side of that fork went directly to Jill’s house.

  “You’re talking about Shannon Evans,” Nicky said.

  “That’s right. Shannon and her parents were the first traitors to leave Thorndike, and we have connected them directly to Falkon Dillinger. That’s why I’m very interested in Annika. She is a direct connection to my enemies. Let me ask you something. Does the name JoBeth Geary mean anything to you?”

  “No,” Nicky said.

  “It has taken us a few months of digging, but we’re pretty certain now that Annika Fleming left the country using a passport issued to JoBeth Geary.”

  “Really?”

  “It’s funny, Nicky. When someone like Annika attaches themselves to one of my enemies, they get showered with money and resources. Fake passports, Swiss bank accounts—someone gave Annika the tools to sneak out in a way I couldn’t track her, but in the end, Annika made a mistake.”

  “What d
id she do?”

  “Before she left town, she sent money to a hotel in Brazil. A hotel where we knew Shannon Evans was staying.”

  “And you used that money to track her?”

  “We used that money to uncover the phony name Shannon Evans was using in Brazil. Shannon and Annika thought their fake names were secure, and once we discovered one, it was easy to learn the other. They shared hotel rooms and a bank account, using both names on the paperwork.”

  “And that’s how you found JoBeth Geary.”

  “Correct. JoBeth Geary is Annika Fleming. Stay to the right up here.”

  Nicky started to breathe a sigh of relief, but realized even that might give something away, so she kept her breathing steady. They were at the fork in the road, and Daciana was having her turn away from Jill’s house.

  “So you’re following the movements of JoBeth Geary,” Nicky said.

  “Indeed I am. You are too.”

  “Me?”

  “Right now, Nicky. You and I are driving a path that Annika Fleming took a few weeks ago.”

  “What? This road? I thought you said Annika was in Brazil with Shannon.”

  “She was! But we got a hit on JoBeth Geary’s passport! Annika flew back to Washington!”

  “Why would she do that?”

  “I don’t know, but it was a huge mistake on her part. I can see things, Nicky. Things like the seat number on the plane assigned to JoBeth Geary, and the names of the people who sat next to her. I found the people who sat next to Annika on the plane, and questioned them myself. One of them, a dirty old man who loved sitting next to a pretty girl for a long flight, kept his eyes on Annika’s ass from the moment she stood up to leave the plane. He watched her at the baggage claim after they landed. He saw her get into a taxi. He was a treasure trove of information. When I searched the recesses of his mind, I found the company name and the license plate on the taxi that picked Annika up at the airport. With that information in my hands, it was relatively easy for me to find out where Annika went after she left the airport.”

  “That’s where we’re going?” Nicky said. “We’re following the route Annika took in a taxi?”

  “Correct. Pull over on the left side of the road. I want you to stop just before that fence post.”

  They were on the north end of the wealthiest subdivision in Potomac. On one side of the road were enormous, well-lit mansions, spread far apart. On the other end, the end where Nicky parked, there were several acres of undeveloped woods.

  “Right here, where we’ve parked your car—this is where the taxi dropped Annika off,” Daciana said. “I’ve seen the GPS records, and I’ve mimicked them exactly. Have a look across the road, at the house over there.”

  Daciana was pointing out her window, to the mansion directly across from them.

  “Do you know who lives there?” she said.

  “I don’t,” said Nicky.

  “Do you know any reason why Annika would go there?”

  “I’m sorry. I have no idea.”

  “I don’t either,” said Daciana. “I came here last night and paid a visit to the family who lives in that house. I had a look in their minds. They don’t know Annika either, and have no memory of her coming to see them. Strange, isn’t it? If Annika didn’t go to that house, why would she have the taxi stop here?”

  “What about the neighbors?” Nicky said.

  “I visited them too—houses on either side. I learned nothing. I’m missing something, Nicky. What is it? Why did Annika have a cab bring her here?”

  Because she was smart enough not to go direct to her destination, Nicky thought.

  Nicky leaned forward, still looking at the houses on the other side of the street, knowing that Annika went the other way. Annika had the taxi drop her off outside the woods that backed up to Jill’s house on the other end of the neighborhood. She took a fifteen-minute walk through the forest. A walk that, right now, was making all the difference in the world.

  “I wish I could help you,” Nicky said. “But I don’t know this neighborhood. I’ve never been here before.”

  “Yes, I pulled the records on the whole street,” Daciana said. “None of these houses belong to Thorndike families. None of them are even home to teenagers. I’m going to ask you to do something for me Nicky, but I want you to know it’s not because I don’t trust you. I simply need to be certain I have left no stone unturned. If you have ever been to this neighborhood before, or even heard someone talking about it, that information still exists in your mind, even though you may not remember it.”

  Daciana turned quickly and looked right in Nicky’s eyes. Nicky held Daciana’s gaze.

  “Good,” Daciana said. “I’m going to look in your mind, Nicky Bloom. It will be fast and painless, I promise. That’s right. Just look at me and relax.”

  Nicky was so practiced now at fooling the vampires who wanted in her mind she didn’t even have to work at it. Melissa, Renata, Lena—she had fooled all of them with a simple trick she discovered in the back of a limo after the Homecoming Masquerade.

  To make Daciana think she had control of Nicky’s mind, Nicky needed to relax, and there was a single thought that soothed Nicky’s mind and body. It was a thought that brought her so much comfort Daciana would see it in her eyes, and assume she was in control.

  Just as she had done when Melissa Mayhew stared her down and tried to get inside her brain, Nicky thought of Sergio.

  “There it is,” Daciana said. “Now I’ve got you. I’m going to ask you some questions, Nicky, and you’re going to search your entire mind for the answers. Do you understand?”

  “I understand.”

  “We are in the Granwood Oaks neighborhood in north Potomac,” Daciana said. “Do you know anyone who lives here?”

  Nicky waited a minute, as if she was seeking out the answer in the depths of her mind.

  “No,” she said finally.

  “Can you think of any reason that Annika Fleming might come here?”

  Again, Nicky waited, and then she said, “No.”

  “We are on Sycamore Drive,” Daciana said. “Have you ever heard anyone mention this street by name?”

  “No.”

  “Take your best guess for me, Nicky. Synthesize everything you know about Annika Fleming and come up with an answer to this question. Why did she have a taxi bring her here?”

  “She knew there was a chance you would find her,” Nicky said. “So she was cautious. She had the taxi bring her to a place that wasn’t her final destination. She waited here for someone to pick her up and take her wherever she was going.”

  Daciana leaned away from Nicky, nodding her head.

  “I think you’re right,” she said. “We’re done. Your mind is your own.”

  Nicky sat up in her chair, moving about as she imagined someone might when they exited a vampire’s spell.

  “Thank you for your help, Nicky.”

  “I feel like I wasn’t very helpful at all.”

  “Believe me, you were. I might have spent weeks chasing dead ends in this neighborhood. Anyway, I require a favor of you now.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Switch places with me so I can drive this sweet little ride again before I call it a night.”

  Chapter 34

  Art, Rosalyn, Andrea, and Mary.

  Four names left on the spreadsheet that didn’t have numbers attached.

  Jill was desperate for a lead on one of those names, and of late, she and Nicky had taken to wearing cameras and microphones to school. The same jewelry that gave the Network eyes and ears in Daciana’s house became a regular part of Jill and Nicky’s outfits. Walking through the hallway, having lunch in a crowded restaurant, sitting in the back of a quiet classroom—all of it was captured on film for Jill to watch and rewatch later.

  Usually with Zack.

  She didn’t mean for Zack to become her watching buddy as she went over the footage, but it was the only way she could spend any time with him. And
she had to spend time with him.

  She didn’t realize how much she missed having him in her life until she got him back. Now that he had returned, Zack was a calming presence who made it possible for Jill to continue with the mission, despite all the frustrations.

  Frustrations like Ryan, who played the warm, loving boyfriend at school, but was cold and standoffish when no one was looking.

  Like Helena and Phillip, who were impatient for Jill to figure out the missing numbers on her spreadsheet, and were starting to pester her.

  She was frustrated by the other students at school, who had settled into a severe case of senioritis. Outside of Ryan and Jill, no one in Samantha’s group was giving any effort to the Coronation contest. When Jill asked for people to follow Andrea, Rosalyn, and Art around and see what might be learned, no one volunteered. Mattie, Jenny, Jake, and the rest had all checked out. They came to class but were hardly present. They were counting the days until graduation, all of them certain that their golden ticket was punched, since a victory for Samantha seemed inevitable.

  Jill was frustrated that Annika’s rash decision to return had nearly cost them everything. When Nicky told Jill about a frightening car ride with Daciana after chapel, she nearly lost it. Fortunately, between Annika’s decision to take the back way to Jill’s house, and Nicky’s ability to resist Daciana’s charms, it sounded like they dodged the bullet.

  For now. How many other little mistakes were out there waiting to lead Daciana straight to Jill? It was frustrating to think about.

  But more than all of this, Jill was frustrated that her hack on Daciana’s machine was dead. It was maddening to her to come so close only to have it all fall apart. They would never have an opportunity like the one they lost when Daciana discovered a pewter charm Jill left behind. Every penny of every bank account of every vampire in the clan—they were a six-digit code away and they couldn’t do it!

  She needed lots of Zack to work through the frustration. Long, heavy doses of him. It was the only way to quiet her mind about the mistakes already made, and opportunities already lost.

  And if Zack happened to learn a little more about the mission than she intended him to, well, that seemed a small price to pay.